Wednesday, November 19, 2008

On Rowan Williams: now available

For those who may be interested, Wipf and Stock have recently published a new volume of essays titled On Rowan Williams: Critical Essays, edited by the irrepressible Dr Matheson Russell from the University of Auckland. The collection includes nine contributions from young Australian Anglicans, such as Ben Myers (Faith and Theology), Michael Jensen (The Blogging Parson), Andrew Cameron, Greg Clarke and more. There is a foreword by Oliver O'Donovan and a twenty-eight page bibliography of all Williams' published works. Here is the blurb from the publisher's site:

Theologian, poet, public intellectual, and clergyman, Rowan Williams is one of the leading lights of contemporary British theology. He has published over twenty books and one hundred scholarly essays in a distinguished career as an academic theologian that culminated in his appointment as Lady Margaret Professor of Divinity at Oxford University. Williams left this post to serve in the Anglican Church, first as Bishop of Monmouth, then Archbishop of Wales, before finally being enthroned in 2003 as the 104th Archbishop of Canterbury.

In this collection of essays, a talented younger generation of Australian theologians critically analyzes the themes that bind together Williams's theology. These sympathetic yet probing essays traverse the full breadth of Williams's work, from his studies on Arius, the Desert Fathers, Hegel, and Trinitarian theology to his more pastoral writings on spirituality, sexuality, politics, and the Anglican Church.
Here is what you get:
Foreword: Australia on Rowan Williams • Oliver O’Donovan
Introduction • Matheson Russell
1. The Ecclesiology of Rowan Williams • Rhys Bezzant
2. The Hidden Center: Trinity and incarnation in the Negative (and Positive) Theology of Rowan Williams • Andrew Moody
3. Disruptive History: Rowan Williams on Heresy and Orthodoxy • Benjamin Myers
4. Krisis? Kritik?: Judgment and Jesus in the Theology of Rowan Williams • Michael Jensen
5. Dispossession and Negotiation: Rowan Williams on Hegel and Political Theology • Matheson Russell
6. The Humanity of Godliness: Spirituality and Creatureliness in Rowan Williams • Byron Smith
7. Desire and Grace: Rowan Williams and the Search for Bodily Wholeness • Andrew Cameron
8. Rowan Williams on War and Peace • Tom Frame
9. The Beauty of God in Cairo and Islamabad: Rowan Williams as Apologist • Greg Clarke
The price is a mere US$29.00, or $23.20 from the Wipf and Stock website. Unfortunately, if you happen to live outside the US, then you'll need to contact the publisher to ask for a special order form (and pay approx US$13 in P&H). I have no idea why any non-US resident would consider buying a book about a Brit by a bunch of Aussies.
Twenty points if you purchase a copy of the book. Prove it by quoting the first sentence of a random page in the book. (Hahaha, what a brilliant marketing ploy!)

UPDATE: A nice review by Bruce Kaye.

15 comments:

the don said...

best news i got all day!

michael jensen said...

one is assuming that they are gonna make distribution somewhat easier...

byron smith said...

Josh - Must have been a slow day for you too!

MPJ - Either that, or they are going to go under. When there are other sites that make ordering books internationally so easy, it is hard to see why people will make the effort.

Matheson said...

In your humility, you failed to point out to your readers that the book contains your first published book chapter! First of many, no doubt.

The book is or will be available through amazon uk for Brits. I'm not sure how attractive the price will be...

Martin Kemp said...

Congrats to all involved.

At the risk of sounding unfashionably nationalistic, I have to say that it's great to see such a confident contribution to theology (and anglicanism) by a bunch of young aussies. I've heard it said that the world of theoblogging is dominated by aussies, and now its good to see this group going to hard copy.

(Tom Frame must be happy, he's still a "young aussie")

byron smith said...

Matheson - you obviously didn't see the original title of this post (nor has my facebook status showed a similar level of humility)!

It's not on Amazon.co.uk yet. I'll keep looking.

Marty - only an Aussie could think that theoblogging is dominated by Aussies. :-)

Martin Kemp said...

It was actually a comment by a Brit: Exiled Preacher I believe?

Anonymous said...

looks wonderful Byron, congratulations! or Parabens as we say here.

Ben Myers said...

Hi Byron. Regarding the overseas distribution: I don't know exactly when it will appear, but I believe this book will also be printed and distributed by the Aussie publisher, ATF Press. So it should have good distribution in Australia once it's released here...

byron smith said...

Ah, that's good to know. It did seem a little odd that it might be difficult to get in Australia. I'm still fairly ignorant of the workings of international publishing. I just read the things.

Matthew Moffitt said...

'"Spirituality" has often been associated with an almost superhuman and heroic exertion of the will that seeks to gain a new plane of inner experience through denying oneself what is wordly, bodily, sensual, or socio-political.' Smith, p. 115.

Matthew Moffitt said...

You guys should do a follow-up in a couple of years...maybe on Tom Wright or someone like him.

byron smith said...

You guys should do a follow-up in a couple of years...maybe on Tom Wright or someone like him.
Williams was the "safe" pick! :-)
Twenty points. Nice quote...

Matthew Moffitt said...

Yes, right now would be too early anyway. Maybe after he's retired and written three more bricks.

byron smith said...

Jason Goroncy hosts two interesting guest posts on RW's theology.

An End to all Endings? Reflections on Rowan Williams' Critical Theology by Chris Green

and

On Rowan Williams' Theology by Joel Daniels.